What new word did you learn today?

I saw several diapers on the London Subway, or "tube", as you say. I guess things changed in the last decade?

 

Not really today, but...

Sthenurines are ancient kangaroos that did not hop like modern roos, but were instead unguligrade, meaning they walked in a single hoofed toe. No hopping.

 

You should smell some of the Tube stations.

 

I have. I've no desire to smell the remainder.

 

It's consistently phrenetic!

 

Profluent—to flow copiously or smoothly. Makes sense, pro means forward, as in progress and fluent means fluid. Ran into it several times in John Gardner's The Art of Fiction.

 

Sounds like sanitation chemicals.

 

Gardner's The Art of Fiction is my favorite of all the books on writing I've read (and I've read a pile of 'em). It's inspiring.

EDIT: Corrected a typo.

 

anecdata, to mean anecdotal 'data'. Made-up, but I guess they all are.

 

Anecdatum? Anecdatae?

 

I knew this word but not this definition. I had a clue but...

From Fried & Hanson's book Rework:

"Easy is a word that's used to describe other people's work."

 

Scrimshander: Artist who produces scrimshaw.

Scrimshaw: Word you have to look up in order to understand "scrimshander."

 

How was that book, by the way? Worth the read?

 

knurl
/nəːl/
noun
plural noun: knurls

1. a small projecting knob or ridge, especially in a series around the edge of something.

I never knew those tiny little outward-pointing dimples had a name until yesterday.
Editing someone else's work pays off in so many different ways.

 

Rafter.
A group of turkey is called a rafter

 

cataplexy - a medical condition in which strong emotion or laughter causes a person to suffer sudden physical collapse though remaining conscious.

 

Burbot.

I posted this picture somewhere and needed to tell what it is.

 

Szyzgy - a conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon with the sun. or a pair of connected or corresponding things.

 

I do not even know where to begin with pronouncing this lol.

 

Sizagee

 

Seizure.

Is what happens when I try to say this word.

 

bokeh: the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image.

 

A pair?
A pair of Szyzzrs?

 

this is terrifying

 

Procrustean
definition: enforcing uniformity or conformity without regard to natural variation or individuality.
How it was explained to me: cutting out/off necessary things to fit in.
Explanation of the explanation: "so its a myth about this idiot named Procrustes who was too tall for his bed so he cut off his feet to solve the problem."


(back story: we are shifting around our books, and to make room, i have to get rid of a lot of books that i don't feel comfortable doing. Boss says "Its a bit Procrustean, but we've got to do it" and I'm look at him blankly and tell him I have no idea what that word is)